dancing birds

This painting is an experiment, a large scaled one at that. I'm not really feeling it as an image or composition, but I'm still really drawn to the process of painting it. I'm playing with thick impasto using cold wax medium in the birds. It's so luscious! Painting the grid is the opposite sensation, tight, thin and rigid. Painting them is actually very meditative and addictive. I have an idea what I want this to eventually look like, there will be an emphasis on atmospheric perspective to give the sense of a receding horizon. I want to play with color and texture considerably more as well. Whatever comes of it, it is a refreshing change of pace from the two other paintings I'm working on. Working on multiple paintings at once keeps the flow of creative energy moving.

happy at work

shameless

working title: "on poets....on patterns/the peacock and the buffalo"

still in the underpainting stage.

"The Gift"

Every "No" is a gift if you listen closely. You have to strip it of your emotional reactions and look at its core. It is an expression of a need.

a departure

I'm trying out something completely new. Might as well, change and risk is the theme these days. I started with a blue chalk-line and made the grid pattern from two points, one at each top corner. I'm a sucker for blue and orange together, but this will most likely be covered up by other layers.

I've had this weird visualization that blue lines of energy connect people, that they connect us all. It has been more of a visualization tool rather than a literal interpretation. I've wanted to express this idea for a while but hadn't figured out a way to convey it with out being overt and cheesy. I found the chalk-line at the hardware store and the visual now unfolds.

There will be figurative elements, but I don't plan to use people. It's still undecided which species will be my stand-ins. I don't see this piece fitting in my general body of work, but perhaps it will take me in yet another unexpected direction. I'm excited to see what develops. This process will take a while since I will be leaving soon. I'll be away from my studio for 9 weeks. Other life goals beckon!

a year of perseverance

I've been working on this piece for a year now. It has gone through many a change through out that time. (So has the artist) At this point it is still not complete. There are several more details to add in the hands and eyes. I also need to do a coat of dark-value glazing. The back ground will probably see more work too.

At one point I lost hope that I would have the desire or energy to bring this painting back to life. It went along on the rollercoaster of this year with me, fluctuating between looking right and looking really wrong. Now it could turn out to be one of my favorite paintings, if not one of my best.

There is a subtlety that has come over my technique. I was resisting it for a while, just like one often does with change. At first, it was easy to think of it as being rust and frustration. I wasn't sure where I picked this new paint application up, especially since I had taken such a long break from painting. As it always seems to go, it is proving to be the change I was needing. I might be getting ahead of myself here, but there is a maturity and strength that I am finding in my new brushwork. I think it lends to my subject matter in a more refined, cohesive way. It has less of a caricature stylizing than my older work. It's pretty interesting to see my old paintings next to my new ones, the progress is obvious and that is a very satisfying feeling.

i left my old life with hopes of love, art and adventure. Indeed, this is what the last year has gifted me.